Loyalty
by LovingTheStrange
Summary: Established Muck (Mike/Chuck) Mike has often questioned Chuck's loyalty towards him and the rest of the Burners. One day, his question is answered in a way he doesn't expect.


**Loyalty**

**Established Muck**

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Mike always knew that Chuck was a loyal friend and an even better loyal- well, they didn't know what to call it, their little relationship had only been about for two weeks, and as far as they knew, none of the other Burners knew about it. It was their little well-kept secret and theirs alone. When they would tell the others, they had no idea, but it wasn't a thought they dwelled on.

Chuck's loyalty, however, was often on Mike's mind. He never questioned the fact that Chuck was one of the most loyal people he had ever met; he only wondered exactly how far Chuck would be willing to go to make sure the one that was much more than his friend would be safe. His question was answered one day down in Motorcity.

The day had started off just like any other, that was, however, until the alarm sounded signaling another attack from Kane and his bots. All of the Burners headed for their cars with Chuck running towards Mutt alongside Mike as usual. They stepped into the car and quickly fastened their seatbelts, Chuck taking a little while longer since his was a 6-pointer. Mike turned the engine over and they were off.

"What is it this time?" Chucked asked over the roar of Mutt's engine.

"Bots got through somehow. They're over at one of the abandoned buildings." Mike explained as he took the sharp turn, Mutt's wheels barely went over the edge of the street that they rode on.

Chuck let out his usual shriek due to Mike's driving skills. "But it's abandoned, Mikey. Why do we need to worry about it?"

"Are you just saying that 'cuz you still don't like my driving?" Mike assumed that the answer would be yes considering Chuck was hardly ever okay with him going as fast as he was.

"Yes and no!" Chuck screamed as Mike turned hard. He never knew if he would ever get used to the fast driving that Mike always used, regardless if he was on his way to a mission or not.

Mike smiled as he rolled his eyes at Chuck's constant shrieking; he didn't even think he was going _that_ fast. "Regardless of what Kane's doing here Chuck, we can't let him do anything to Motorcity. It doesn't matter if it seems harmless or not. Plus, in case you've forgotten, Kane is kinda a bad guy. I'm sure whatever he's doing will sooner or later lead to something that no one down here will like."

"Whatever man, just make sure we get there in one piece. Please?"

"Don't I always?" Mike shifted gears and revved Mutt's engine and made her go even faster in order to get to the building in time. He didn't mind the constant screaming from Chuck, after all the times he had driven with Chuck in the passenger seat, he was used to it.

It didn't take long for Mike and the rest of his team to get to the abandoned three-story building; and just in time too, they could see many Kanebots coming in fast. "There they are gang! Look alive!" Mike shouted over their com-links. Dutch's holographic icon popped up in front of Mike soon afterwards.

"Man, what do they want with this dirty ol' building anyways? We know no one's living in it. Why would Kane want to demolish it?"

"Dunno." Mike answered. "Julie?"

Julie's icon appeared right next to Dutch's. "Beats me Mike. It's either just another way of destroying Motorcity or he needs to take it or for something else he has planned up top."

"Well whatever it is, we need to take them out. Now." The two holographs soon disappeared as Mike looked over to Chuck. "Ya gonna be okay buddy?"

"Ha ha, yeah, come on Mike, I ride in your car going over 200 miles an hour only to fight giant death-dealing robots that want to do nothing but blow us up. Ha ha, this is normal for me, I mean, come on, why would you ask…"

"CHUCK!" Mike shouted, demanding a straightforward answer.

Chuck took in a deep breath before continuing. "Yeah, Mikey, I'll be fine. I promise."

"Glad to see you're still sticking with me, Chuckles." Mike said as he placed a comforting hand on Chuck's shoulder.

Chuck smiled at the small show of affection, but quickly remembered the situation they were both in. "Uh, Mike, Kanebots?" he said as he pointed towards the impending robots. "Gonna blow up the building, we gotta stop them, ring a bell?"

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry." Mike replied as he quickly placed his hand back on the steering wheel. "Alright Burners," he announced over the com-link, "let's hit em' and hit 'em hard!" Mike revved his engine and raced towards the advancing bots. He could barely make out Texas shouting the battle cry of his own name over the roar of his engine.

The fight started just like any other usual battle with the Kanebots. As soon as the bots saw the four colorful cars advancing towards them, they began to fire their lasers. The Burners easily out-maneuvered them and began to fire their own. Julie took advantage of her hologram projector and created four more 9lives to confuse the small group of Kanebots. Her plan worked like a charm and she easily took the bots out.

Dutch and Texas were also having the same streak of luck, easily taking out their own bots in their own way. Mike and Chuck, however, weren't as lucky. While the rest of the Burners were off fighting their own bots, Mike was having trouble shaking one off his tail. Whenever he turned around to fire at the one behind him it would either instantly fly out of the way of his laser or another bot took its place behind Mutt soon after it was shot down.

"They just aren't gonna give up, are they?" Mike rhetorically asked the blond, who was having a panic attack.

"Yeah, uh, think we can try to get rid of them a little sooner Mikey?" he shouted as he quickly reconfigured Mike's lasers.

"Hey, I'm doing the best I can here. It's not like-,"

"Mikey, look out!" Chuck screamed as another bot flew straight for the front of the car. It fired right in front of them and barely hit Mutt, but it hit close enough that the car went flying into the air. Chuck screamed as the car somersaulted over and over again. Mike simply gritted his teeth as he took a quick glance at Chuck and saw his hair was flying everywhere and that his eyes were wide with fear. He hoped that they wouldn't land upside down as Mutt toppled over and over again. Thankfully, they didn't.

Mike rubbed his head as he groaned from the constant flips that he had just endured. "Whoa, you alright over there?"

"Y-yeah!" Chuck answered, curled into a fetal position once Mutt has stopped moving. "Never better. Haha. You?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Mike looked out his window to try to find the bot, but he couldn't see it anywhere. "What the? Where'd it go?"

"Oh no," he heard Chuck say softly. He looked at Chuck to see him looking in his side-view mirror.

"What?"

"Mike, it's heading for the building!" Chuck exclaimed. Mike looked in his rear-view to see the bot almost at the abandoned building. He looked out to see the rest of the Burners still dealing with their own bots. No biggie though. One bot isn't going to be much trouble. Mike shifted Mutt into reverse and sped toward the bot.

Mike quickly turned Mutt around towards the building and sped forward so that he could see where the bot was going exactly. Suddenly, as soon as Mike and Chuck made it to the building, the bot rushed inside. Mike knew that he was going to have to go inside to destroy it.

He unbuckled his seatbelt and started to get out of the car when Chuck grabbed his wrist. "No way bro, it's not safe."

"What're you talking about?" Mike questioned.

"The bot, Mikey," Chuck explained. "It's probably a trap or something. You can't go in there alone."

Mike smirked at the blond. "C'mon Chuck," he began as he worked his wrist out of Chuck's grip and took Chuck's hand into his own. "It's just one simple Kanebot. I've faced much worse before."

"Yeah, but this time is different. That bot is ready to take down the building you're about to go inside, Mike! Think about it! What if it does end up doing it? And even then if you do destroy it, who's to say one of the other bots doesn't do it while you're still inside?"

Mike smiled at Chuck, knowing he was right; there was a small chance he may not come out of the building alive. However, Mike didn't show he was in fact a little worried for his own safety and released Chuck's hand, and instead placed it on the back of his head. "Chuck, I'll be fine. I promise, okay?"

"You don't know that, Mikey. You can't go in there." Chuck begged with a sigh.

Mike pulled Chuck in a little closer and placed a small kiss on his forehead. "I'll be fine Chuck." Mike repeated as he connected his forehead with Chuck's. "Don't worry."

Chuck took a deep breath trying to think of his other options. Only one came to mind. "Fine," he uttered, "then I'm coming with you." He began to unbuckle his seatbelt when Mikes hand placed itself on top of his. He looked back up at Mike to see his eyebrows furrowed.

"No. Too dangerous Chuck."

"What?" Chuck exclaimed as he removed Mike's hand. "No way, Mike. There is NO way you're going in there alone!"

"Sorry Chuck," Mike began as he placed one small kiss on Chuck's forehead. "Can't risk it. Stay. Here." He got out of the car as he unscrewed the skull that contained his Spark Staff and took one last look at Chuck.

"But-but Mike…"

"Stay." Mike commanded as he shut the door. He mouthed the word "sorry" to Chuck one last time before he ran for the building.

Chuck wasn't happy to say the least. He didn't like leaving Mike alone to go on his solo missions. He did it once when that bomb almost blew up all of Motorcity and the rest of Michigan along with it and he felt like he still hadn't forgiven himself for it. How could he expect himself to just sit here while Mike put himself in even more danger?

But, on the other hand, Mike did ask him to stay this time and he wasn't given a choice. He looked in the rear-view mirror to see Mike activate his staff as he ran inside the building. Chuck rolled down his window to hear if anything happened. Of course it was a little difficult from the sounds of the fight going on the other side of the building with the rest of the Burners.

For a few minutes, Chuck heard nothing, but then, he heard a loud blast coming from inside the building. He looked back in the mirror and could vaguely make out the light of Mike's staff swinging at the bot which he could not see somewhere on the third floor.

Chuck then realized something and asked himself, "am I really going to sit here and do nothing?" He remembered Mike told him to stay put, but since when did Mike own Chuck? Chuck unbuckled his seatbelt, opened his door and ran outside to try to find Mike. He activated his slingshot as he looked up to where he had last seen Mike, but he couldn't find him.

"Mike!" No answer. "Mikey where are you?"

"Chuck?"

"Mike!" Chuck shouted. "Mike, are you okay?" He heard Mike scream "WHOA!" followed by the sound of laser after laser and the whir of Mike's Spark Staff. Chuck began to head for the nearest entrance. "Mike, what's going on?"

Before he could hear a response he heard the sound of a laser being fired and a crash from above. He ran back to see what was wrong and saw a hole in the ceiling on the second floor. Mike stood up not long after. "What happened?"

"They shot a laser at the floor beneath me and I fell! What's it look like?" Mike snapped back, though he wished he hadn't since he wasn't one to actually like snapping at people.

"They?" Chuck replied readying his slingshot just in case.

"Yes 'they'!" Mike answered as he walked towards the edge of the building. "Three more of them got in! I got one of them but these guys are faster than usual! Kane must've made some modifications to them!"

"Hang on! I'm on my way!" Chuck shouted as he deactivated his slingshot and began for the hole where the door used to be.

"No way, Chuckles. It's too dangerous up here for you. I'm not risking-," Mike began before Chuck interrupted him.

"Mike! Behind you!" Chuck shouted as he saw one of the bots emerge from the third floor through the hole. He re-activated his slingshot and quickly fired at the bot. He successfully hit the bot right as Mike turned around to see it go flying back.

Mike turned back around and gave Chuck a thumbs up. "Thanks man! I owe you one." he said before he returned to his fight.

"You owe me way more than one Mike. WAY more!" Chuck replied before he ran towards the entrance.

"Don't you dare come up here Chuck! I mean it!" Mike shouted.

"No! Dammit Mike I'm not leaving you like this again!" Chuck finally entered the building and made his way for the stairs. Before he could get there though, the commotion upstairs suddenly stopped after the sound of a metal bar falling to the ground. "Mike?" Chuck exclaimed. No answer. "MIKE!" Chuck ran back outside since it was closer than the stairs.

He deactivated his slingshot and cups his hands around his mouth."Mike? Mike, answer me dammit!" he screamed at the second floor.

Mike's head soon popped up a few feet away from where he was earlier.

"Will you shush? I lost them." Mike turned his head back around, looking to make sure the bots hadn't noticed him yet. He turned back to Chuck and said, "I'm gonna try to ambush them when they're not looking." He pointed a finger at Chuck. "And don't you dare say anything about coming up here. Go back to Mutt and wait for me."

Chuck was getting aggravated. "Mike, I think I can handle three of Kane's bots." Mike couldn't see it, but Chuck eyebrows were beginning to furrow.

Mike raised an eyebrow at Chuck's statement. "Really?" he asked sarcastically.

"Well, I can try anyways, can't I?"

"Sorry Chuck, I don't wanna see you-" but Mike was cut off as one of the bots appeared from behind him and prepared to fire. Mike quickly took his staff and jammed it into its 'eye' before it could shoot its deadly laser at him. "See? What'd I tell ya? Two down, two to go. Piece of ca-"

"MIKE THOSE THINGS EXPLODE WHEN YOU DO THAT! IT'S FIVE FEET AWAY FROM YOU! ARE YOU CRAZY" Chuck screamed at the top of his lungs as he pulled his hair at Mike's stubborn action. It almost seemed as if he was completely disregarding his own safety.

"Whoops." Mike said wide-eyed as he took his staff and slung it backwards so that the bot would fly off towards the other bots. It exploded with a loud BAM as Mike turned and covered his eyes from the bright light of the explosion. Chuck turned away from the explosion as small debris flew towards him.

Mike opened his eyes and looked back at the blond Burner below. "See? What did I tell ya? Nothing to worry about."

"You almost got yourself killed, Mikey!" Chuck exclaimed looking back up at Mike. "Not! Cool!"

"Oh, come on," Mike replied waving a hand dismissing Chuck's statement. "It wasn't that bad."

Then without warning, a support beam started to fall right beside the Burner without him knowing. Mike heard the creaking and groaning of the wood just in time and right as he heard Chuck scream his name trying to warn him on the oncoming beam. He turned his head and saw that the beam was going to fall beside him and not on him, so he wasn't worried. That was, however, until the beam hit the wall and sent chunks of wood and small broken pieces of rock flying outwards.

Everything happened too quickly. Mike saw where the debris would land, and so did Chuck. Chuck however, was frozen in fear. The last thing he heard before his own shout was Mike calling out for him.

"CHUCK! MOVE!"

Chuck started to back up, but tripped over his own feet in his fear. His hair flopped back long enough for Mike to see the fear in his eyes. Chuck quickly turned over and covered the back of his head with both arms as the debris landed on him.

"CHUCK!" Mike screamed. He grabbed his staff and deactivated it as he ran down the stairs. Forget running, he jumped from the platforms and over the railing in order to get to Chuck. Mike reached the pile of debris and could make out the blue of Chuck's shirt and his leg from his knee to his foot sprawled out over the ground. He could see the skin of his bare back underneath his shirt. He began to toss the debris off of Chuck.

"Chuck? Chuck, are you okay? Come on answer me buddy." begged Mike. He saw Chuck's leg move and an overwhelming sense of relief washed over him. Chuck was alive. Probably really hurt, but alive nonetheless.

He saw Chuck use his hands to try to push himself up and groan as he did so. Mike brushed the rest of the debris off of his back and wrapped his arms around Chuck's waist as he turned him over and helped him onto his lap. He saw the small rips in his shirt and sleeves and the small cuts and bruises along his arm and face. One cut in particular on his head began to bleed more than the others as a small line of blood began to fall down Chuck's bruised face. He brushed the dirt-filled hair out of Chuck's face in order to see his eyes, which were still closed.

Mike fought back tears as he begged for Chuck to answer him. "Chuck?" No reply. Mike shook him a little trying to wake him up. When that didn't work he lightly smacked the side of Chuck's face. "C'mon Chuckles. Wake up. I saw you move and I heard you moan. If this is your idea of some kind of joke, it's not funny okay? Now open your damn eyes and look at me."

Chuck's eyes stayed shut, but Mike once again heard him moan. Mike grasped Chuck's hand and placed it on Chuck's chest as he gradually began to squeeze it tightly. "Wake up, Chuck. Please." Mike once again begged as he pulled Chuck closer; their foreheads touching just like they did before Mike left him. "Please Chuck. Wake up."

And almost as if for the first time Chuck actually heard Mike, his eyes slowly but surely fluttered open. "M-Mike?"

"Chuck?" Mike answered with a smile.

"Mike…if you ever leave me behind again, Mikey I'll – GAH!" Chuck exclaimed as a sudden jolt of pain rushed through his arm.

"Hang in there, Chuck…you're-you-re gonna be okay. I promise." Mike promised. And he meant it.

"I'm serious Mikey. Never -cough- never again."

"I know Chuck. I won't. I promise. Never again." Mike pulled Chuck into his arms and hugged him, making sure not to grasp him too tightly so as to not hurt him anymore. Chuck's arms slowly followed Mike's action as he wrapped them around Mike's chest as he held him close.

Mike planted a small kiss on Chuck's forehead. "I was so scared, Chuck."

Chuck gave a small laugh as he said, "Hey, join the party. We have chips."

Mike chuckled at Chuck's successful attempt at cheering him up. He kissed the blonde's forehead once more, only to have him exclaim a small hiss of pain. Mike instantly moved back to see the cut on Chuck's forehead there was a small stream of blood.

Mike carefully wiped away the blood to see that the cut wasn't a bad one and wouldn't take long to heal. He wiped of the rest of the blood and dirt off of Chuck's face, partly with his jacket and his hand, before calmly saying to Chuck, "Come on, let's get you back to Mutt so we can take you home." Mike carefully lifted Chuck to his feet and helped him walk back to Mutt. "Do you need me to carry you?"

"No." Chuck answered. "I'll – hiss– I'll be fine Mike. How's the building?"

Mike looked back at the building and laughed as he answered. "That ol' thing? Yeah, it's fine." He looked back to Chuck as he continued. "I honestly couldn't care less about it though. You're fine, and that's all that matters."

Chuck brushed the hair out of his face and looked mike in his eyes. "Awh, come on Mikey. Weren't you the one who said we can't let Kane do anything to Motorcity regardless if it seems harmless or not? Plus, he's kind of a bad guy, so we should assume that it has something to do with him doing something, I don't know, bad?"

Mike rolled his eyes at Chuck's little banter. "Yeah. Yeah I did Chuckles."

They got back to Mutt just as the others rolled up in their cars and got out as soon as they saw the damage to Chuck.

Julie was the first to speak. "What happened? Is he okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Yeah he's fine, guys. He just needs to head back home so we can fix him up."

"Dang man. What happened over there?" Dutch asked looking over Chuck.

"Did you get attacked? Did a person do this to you? Was it Red? One of Kane's grunts? Do you want me to go after them? I've been working on my Texas Twister. It's way more awesome now and could totally kick more butts." Texas rambled.

"Man, would you shut it?" Dutch shouted back. "I'm sure Chuck is fine. He's breathing ain't he? And even if it was a person, don't you think Mike would've been able to handle it?"

Mike rolled his eyes at Texas and Dutch's usual banter. Chuck interrupted them by raising a hand and saying, "Really guys. I'm fine. Did you destroy the bots?"

"Yeah. We got 'em alright." Julie answered with a sigh. "And the building?"

"Still in-tact." Mike replied as he looked back at Chuck. "C'mon buddy, let's get you back home. I think you've got a little recovery to do."

"Oh, ya think?" Chuck sarcastically replied.

The rest of the Burners smiled knowing that Mike and Chuck were both okay and made their way to their cars. Mike helped Chuck into his seat and buckled his seatbelt for him. He walked over to the driver's side of the car as the rest of the Burners started to drive off. He sat down inside of Mutt and closed the door as he looked over to Chuck.

Chuck looked back up at Mike and asked, "What?" Am I bleeding again?" as he reached up for his own face to see if there was any more blood.

Mike simply smiled at the blond before leaning in and stealing a kiss from the blonde's lips. The kiss took Chuck by surprise, but he leaned into it nonetheless. Mike carefully placed a warm and comforting hand over the side of Chuck's face and Chuck did the same to Mike. Their eyes closed and as both of them thoroughly enjoyed the kiss for as long as they could.

Once they parted, Chuck looked towards the floor and blushed at the show of affection. "That was, um, nice. Heh heh."

Mike brushed the hair out of one of Chuck's eyes and saw him look back up at Mike and smile, still blushing from Mike's sudden, but enjoyable kiss. Mike smiled at Chuck before asking, "You're still not ready to tell the rest of them, huh?"

"Eh, let's give it another month first." Chuck answered. "Promise."

Mike chuckled at Chuck's reply. "Come on. Let's get you home." Mike revved Mutt's engine and drove back home. He drove slowly though; he wanted to have as much time alone with Chuck as he could just to enjoy his company and be glad that Chuck wasn't going anywhere for a long time.

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**Inspired by "We're In This Together, Bro" by Deserthaze on DeviantArt**

**First Muck fic so I hope you guys like it! I plan on another one-shot and maybe a small chapter fic sometime in the future so watch out for those!**

**Reviews/Comments are welcome! Love you guys!**


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